Cop Suspended For "Ghetto Handbook"

AUGUST 31--A crude 'ghetto handbook' distributed to police patrolling Houston's public schools has resulted in the suspension of one officer. The eight-page booklet--a copy of which you'll find below--was handed out in May by a officer with the city's Independent School District, but did not come to the attention of school brass until recently, when a discrimination complaint was lodged. The booklet, which was given to about 20 cops, is subtitled 'Wucha dun did now?,' and purports to help the reader 'learn to speak ebonics as if you just came out of the hood...because you could find you self with a problem one day and ebonics could save your life.' The booklet offers definitions for street slang like 'hoodrat' ('scummy girl') and 'foty' (a 40-ounce bottle of beer) and concludes with a 'poem' incorporating these terms [That poem, as many of our readers have noted, is actually the lyrics from 'Ebonics,' a song by the rapper Big L]. It also includes a copyright notation that the booklet is a 'first edition, second soon to follow.' That now appears to be the wishful thinking of a novice author. The booklet was provided to TSG by school officials who removed the name of the suspended officer from the publication (as well as the names of several other cops who have not been disciplined). (8 pages)